Hottinger

meets

board

Restates party line,

praises bipartisan spirit

By KREMENA TODOROVA

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- In a question-and-answer session with the local school board, state Senate Majority Leader John Hottinger (DFL-Mankato) restated typical DFL concerns on education, also taking pains to praise the Senate's bipartisan spirit.

Asked to comment on changes in education expected to come out of the current session, Hottinger reiterated that the repeal of Minnesota's project-based graduation standards is all but certain. But he stressed that the DFL-dominated Senate remains concerned about the standards' replacement. He said the alternative should be "education-based, or education policy-based" -- one that would not "discard something that many people have put so much work in."

Hottinger also offered his take on Gov. Tim Pawlenty's commitment to keep "classroom" funding intact, in spite of the state's huge budget deficit. Many see this commitment as an indication that the basic education funding formula will not be "touched", said Hottinger. However, he said, that does not alleviate his concern that cuts to the state's education budget will increase the disparity between "districts that are most able to provide educational opportunities" and needy, especially rural, districts. He cited English as a Second Language funding as an example. That type of funding would not be off-limits-- and taking it away would take away opportunities for students, said Hottinger. "We need to equalize opportunities for kids," he said.

Responding to a question on what school official persistently describe as inadequately funded state mandates, Hottinger said districts should have more flexibility to decide how to allocate scarce dollars. He praised the Senate's effort over the past six years to "dramatically reduce" mandates. But he acknowledged that new requirements are constantly being added to the current list.

Hottinger's comments on the Senate budget fix offer approved Thursday focused on what he said was a stronger spirit of bipartisanship than generally visible to the public. While the vote on the offer was largely split along party lines, with only Sen. Dennis Frederickson (R-New Ulm) switching camps, senators do work together in a truly bipartisan manner, Hottinger said. He also stressed the positive impact of DFL legislators' much more "civil" relationship with the current governor, compared to the Jesse Ventura administration -- and his own "reasonably good" working relationship with House Speaker Steve Sviggum (R-Kenyon). (Hottinger said he will appoint New Ulm's Frederickson to the conference committee that will try to resolve the differences between the Senate and House budget proposals.

During Thursday's meeting, the board also heard an update on the status of the Putting Green environmental learning project, presented by coordinator Dr. Laurel Gamm.

K